Password Protect Accounts on Mac OS X (10.5 and 10.6)

To password protect an account on Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), follow these steps:

1. From the Apple menu, click System Preferences.
2. In the System Preferences window, click the Accounts icon in the fourth row. This icon is circled in white in the following graphic:

3. You will see the Accounts window, which should look similar to the following:

3. If the lock icon in the lower-left hand side of the window is locked, click it to unlock it.
4. In the left-hand column of the window, click the name of the account you want to modify.
5. Click Change Password on the right-hand side of the window (the the right of the graphic--in this case, a cat).
6. The Accounts windows should now look similar to the following:

7. In the Old Password field, type the old password.
8. Press TAB.
9. In the New Password field, type the new password.
10. Press TAB.
11. In the Verify field, retype the new password.
12. Press TAB.
13. In the Password Hint field, type a hint for the new password (optional).
14. Click Change Password.
15. If you want to change the password for another account, click on its name in the left-hand column and follow steps 5-14.
16. At the bottom of the left-hand column of the window, click Login Options.
17. Confirm that Automatic login reads Disabled (OS X 10.5) or Off (OS X 10.6).
18. Click the lock in the lower-left corner of the window to prevent further changes. The Accounts window should now look similar to the following:

NOTE
If you want to make changes to these options in the future, you must click the lock in the lower-left corner of the window and type the Admin password to unlock the page to access these options.